Don't Flux it All Up

It certainly was a busy week here in classes. You always hear about the calm before the storm and last weeks small, cozy classes caught me off guard for the number of projects that ran through here this week. So let's start, as always, by looking at some completed projects and then wrap it all up with progress reports on everyone else.

Roxie's house will be instantly recognizable now that she has her Address Window completed. We've seen quite a few of these made during the years and they always look great. Numbers and letters are always challenging to work with because if your cutting is off then your window looks like you have bad penmanship. But as you can see that isn't the case here. Talk about a personalized item, huh? I wonder if it will stay with the house should Roxie ever move....

We got an email from Tommy this week and he send a picture of the latest window that he built while at home. I have to say that everything looks really good here-- The soldering, the subtle yet perfectly symmetrical curves and the even foiling all make this a beautiful window that Tommy should be proud of making all on his own. He must have really had a great teacher!

Jane is apparently in full Birdhouse mode. I believe these are houses 3 and 4 so if you know any birds that are looking for a home please send them her way. Although they're unfurnished they are clean and the rent is unbeatable. Not pets allowed, please.

We got a phone call this week from Janice and Grace asking if it was okay to show up for classes again. And you know what I always say, the more the merrier! Grace came in with a postcard framed in glass that had been broken beyond repair so she just pulled it all apart found some matching glass and remade it even better than it was before. I guess I should have taken a picture of it before it got ripped apart so we could see a 'before' and 'after' shot.

Meanwhile Janice began to work on her Aeroscope that got put off when she had her 'little' knee incident. I hated seeing her in her leg brace but it was good to have her back in class and cutting glass again. With the body of this Kaleidoscope complete I'm sure that she'll finish it next week because all that's left are the color wheels that make up the propellers.

Wow, Anita keeps wondering if this window will ever get completed but I don't think she has any clue as to how well she's doing on this. A large window can be very intimidating but the only difference between a small window and a large window is the amount of time it takes to make the larger project. And this one is REALLY shaping up now. Aside from the border there are only a few filler pieces left to go before she gets this project ready to hang.

Julie had a bit of a problem this week-- she forgot to bring the book with the patterns to her windows in it. Luckily she had a little more to go on this one so it kept her busy. This is square number 2 of 9 so she's almost a 3rd of the way there now.

Myrt is on a deadline and it looks like she'll make it. Windows like these can be deceiving when you first look at them. There are a lot of pieces here but now that it's all ground she's going to take it home to wrap and then tack it all together. The next step will be the sun and the border and she'll be headed towards the finish line with this window.

Patty got her corners completed and then cut a solid piece of glass for her background. The numbers on her window aren't cut into place yet (they're just resting on top of the glass) but they will be when she returns. She's moving quickly on this project. Let's just hope the numbers are in the right order...

Meanwhile, Paul is just about set with his terrarium. The top is put together and the bottom is ready for solder. He'll be taking this back home with him to finish since the soldering needs a little work. It's never easy to solder something that has 3 dimensions to it and this is without a doubt a 3 dimensional project. But in the end all of the hard work will have been worth it. It looks good now but just wait until you see this all cleaned up.

And then there's Terry. With her background all cut out and ground she just needs some foil around the edges so she can start working on her border. She had to sacrifice 2 pieces to get the background cut out of 1 piece of glass but that will make this pattern flow more naturally to the eye. Once it's all tacked together she'll just re-cut the 2 small pieces that we cut through.


And Terry isn't just working on a Stylized Fleur De Lis window. She's also working on this Duck Window while she's at home. And it's almost completed already. Terry is really keeping her nose to the old grinding-wheel when she's not here because not only does she have 2 projects in the works, but she's got 2 projects done in the same amount of time that it would take almost anyone else to make just one! I'd say that we'll be seeing this window completed next week.

So, as you can see, it was a busy week all around. Ray was in but he sort of sat back and watched Paul and everyone else work on their projects. He brought in an image of the window that he wants to start next week so we'll have a pattern ready for him when he returns. Make sure you come back to check that out as well as all the other projects we have going on here.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks